


lattes & love confessions

by cosmicpath



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, barista jaemin vs asshole customer renjun, not really enemies but kinda, they're both dumb and that's ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 10:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19810513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicpath/pseuds/cosmicpath
Summary: jaemin gets his revenge on a particularly rude customer who won't seem to leave him alone





	lattes & love confessions

**Author's Note:**

> i found this fic collecting dust in the depths of my google docs and decided it'd be better to just put it out there in the world
> 
> (inspired by a prompt i found on tumblr)   
> enjoy! ^__^

Working at an obscure, hipster coffee shop was certainly not Jaemin’s first choice when he had been searching for a part-time job just a handful of months ago. He’d much rather have taken on a relaxing office internship that didn’t involve catering to people, or coming home every night with a smell so pungent that it was as if he’d taken a swim in the café’s signature roast. 

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the heart to turn down his best friend (and roommate) when Donghyuck had brought up the job offering with so much enthusiasm. If he had to name one of Donghyuck’s many talents, it would have to be his persistent nagging. 

_“It’ll be a great chance for roomie bonding,”_ Donghyuck had reasoned eagerly. _“Working together as a team! The dynamic duo!”_

And so here he was, behind the counter making his who-knows-how-manyth iced Americano of the day. At this point, he could probably make one in his sleep. The café’s cozy and warm ambience made shifts bearable, so he couldn’t complain too much. 

He was just grateful that his position rarely required him to be put in charge of working the register, which was a nightmare in itself: counting change correctly, explaining the difference between a macchiato and a latte, the never ending loop of _can I get uhhh_. Customers could be a real pain after all, especially the rude ones. He considered himself a pretty patient person, but there were lines that were too often crossed. 

At the same time, Jaemin _did_ want to keep his job, so the most he could do to show his dissatisfaction was through passive aggressive comments and forced smiles. 

“Jaemin, could you watch the register for me real quick? I forgot to grab the new stock of coffee beans from the back.” Donghyuck’s voice snapped him out of his coffee-making trance. 

_Speak of the devil._ Jaemin groaned as if it were the most grueling task in the world — which it was.

“Fine, but stop lying,” he grumbled, placing a finished drink at the pick-up counter before trudging over to the register. “Coffee beans don’t come in until tomorrow. If you wanna go text that boyfriend of yours, just go. I’m not gonna ask.” 

Donghyuck’s ears began to glow bright red as he sputtered something incomprehensible about how he couldn’t believe Jaemin would accuse him of such a thing, then made his great escape to the back storage room. 

“Hurry up or I’m stealing your tips!” Jaemin called after him. 

Shaking his head in exasperation, he turned around just in time to hear the jingling of bells from the entrance that signaled the arrival of yet another _valued_ customer. 

What he didn’t expect to see was such a _cute_ customer. The boy’s slender frame and fox-like features gave him a charming aura. Tufts of brunette hair framed his delicate face handsomely. He had earbuds in and was focused on his phone, unaware that Jaemin was ready to take his order. 

“Hello?” Jaemin cleared his throat. 

No response. 

“Excuse me, sir.” 

The boy’s attention was caught by Jaemin’s raised voice, and he took out his earbuds. 

“What can I get for y–” 

“Soy vanilla latte. Place the order for Renjun,” the boy interrupted, handing over a crisp five dollar bill with one hand while continuing to scroll on his cell phone in the other. He showed little to no interest in the baffled barista. “Make it iced and keep the change.”

Jaemin hesitantly grabbed the bill from Renjun’s hand, almost afraid that he would bite. Once their transaction was complete, Renjun strolled away to an empty table and sat down, placing his earbuds back in and eyes still glued to his phone. The way he carried himself made it seem as if the plain, old chair he’d sat on was a throne. A throne for a particularly bratty prince. 

Jaemin couldn’t help but scowl at the foul treatment he’d been given. 

_Renjun!_ he thought indignantly. _Should I spit in his drink? Replace the soy in his drink with cow milk to trigger his lactose intolerance?_

The last thing he wanted to do was get fired (or worse, sued) for any malicious actions, so he decided to brush aside any intrusive thoughts. He’d get back at Renjun somehow.

Assuming that Renjun is spelled how it sounds, Jaemin quickly scribbled a name in black Sharpie on the plastic cup: _R-U-N-J-E-E-N._ Nothing said “ _Fuck you, rude customer!”_ quite like a ridiculously misspelled name. He was sure to get the message. 

“Iced soy vanilla latte for Renjun?” Jaemin brought the finished drink to the counter and neatly placed a straw on top of it, buzzing with an unnecessary amount of anticipation.

Renjun looked up from his cell phone and stood to retrieve his drink. 

Jaemin watched as Renjun’s brows furrowed when he read the unfamiliar name on his drink. The two made eye contact. 

Renjun narrowed his eyes, to which Jaemin responded with an innocent smile. Without a word, Renjun stabbed the straw into the lid of his drink and maintained eye contact for just a second too long before turning on his heel and strutting out the door. 

And what did Jaemin gain from it? He didn’t know, but it sure felt good. 

✧

Renjun was back the next morning, looking just as handsome as he did the previous day. He was also just as aloof of his surroundings. The earbuds were to be expected, but this time he’s brought a laptop case and backpack as well. 

“Iced soy vanilla latte. Keep the change.” Renjun held another crisp bill in his hand, ready to pay. 

Jaemin took the bill and opened the cash register, avoiding eye contact. He remembered the boy’s name, but of course he wouldn’t let him know that. 

“Name?” 

Renjun had immersed himself in his phone once again, not hearing Jaemin’s question. 

_Can this guy get any ruder?_ Between gritted teeth, Jaemin repeated it a bit louder. “Name?”

Renjun looked up from his phone, seemingly _annoyed_ at Jaemin for simply doing his job. 

“Renjun. The order is for Renjun,” he responded with more than just a bit of attitude. 

With a cup and marker in hand, Jaemin scribbled the first thing that came to mind: _R-O-N-J-I-N._ He began to make the drink, glancing over his shoulder to observe Renjun typing on his laptop at a nearby table. 

Jaemin called out Renjun’s order loudly, making sure that he’d hear through his earbuds. “Iced soy vanilla latte for Renjun?” 

Hearing his order being called, Renjun stood to retrieve his drink. He glanced at the written name on the cup, then back up to look at Jaemin. Lips pursed, he mumbled a barely audible _thanks_ before hurrying back to his table. 

Jaemin felt triumphant about receiving a word of thanks from Renjun, stealing a couple more glances of him as the morning went by. 

The coffee shop was a bit slow that day anyways, Jaemin spending most of his time pretending to keep busy by wiping down the same counters over and over. 

Renjun seemed to be working diligently on whatever he was so focused on. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the keyboard and his eyebrows knitted in concentration, sharp eyes darting back and forth on the screen. Occasionally, Jaemin would hear him hum soft melodies to himself. 

_Maybe he’s not so bad when his mouth is shut,_ Jaemin thought with a sigh. 

✧

This became a routine in the mellow coffee shop, as Renjun regularly returned without fail. 

Jaemin didn't know what compelled Renjun to come so often. Their coffee wasn’t the best on the block, and neither was their interior. Certainly not Instagram worthy, he had to admit. Renjun’s unclear motive was what bothered Jaemin the most because from what he could deduce, it was only to be a nuisance. 

Everyday at approximately ten o’clock, Renjun would waltz into the shop with the same arrogant gait to order the same drink with the same ill-mannered attitude, and each time Jaemin would find increasingly preposterous ways to misspell Renjun’s name on his drink. 

One day it was Ranjun, another day it was Rinjin. Maybe the next day it’d be Ronjoon. 

Although the gesture itself was small, the two were very much aware of the unspoken tension that polluted the air between them. Had they ever considered having a real conversation with each other, perhaps they would’ve worked out their pointless banter eight lattes ago. (But of course, they didn't. What’s the fun in that?) 

It’d been a little over a week since Renjun’s first visit. By now Donghyuck had started to catch what was going on and eyed Jaemin’s behavior suspiciously, but never verbally expressed his curiosity towards their “situation”, which Jaemin was thankful for. He wouldn’t have a valid excuse to give if Donghyuck did decide to interrogate him. In fact, Jaemin wasn’t so sure himself why he was so adamant on feeding into Renjun’s bad-tempered tendencies.

Sure, their silent quarrels were immature and silly. Jaemin wasn’t one to encourage this kind of conflict either. He definitely didn’t want to admit to himself that there was a slight chance that he enjoyed Renjun’s visits. 

Maybe the coffee fumes were getting to his brain. 

_Ding~_

Jaemin knew the time and didn't bother to look up from the drink he was making, awaiting the familiar snappy voice. Donghyuck was hiding in the back storage room again, meaning that Jaemin was on cashier duty, but if Renjun was ordering then there was no need for him to rush. 

“Excuse me?” 

It was an unfamiliar voice. A polite one at that. Jaemin perked up at the stranger’s voice and was greeted by a blonde boy who was, in fact, not Renjun. He hurried to the register. 

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Jaemin gave his best customer service smile. “What can I get for you?” 

The boy took a quick glance at his phone and read off what seemed to be an order for someone else. 

“One iced soy vanilla latte and one choco frappe, please. That’ll be it,” the boy pulled a debit card from his wallet and swiped it to pay. Jaemin was a bit suspicious of the familiar order and wondered if Renjun was too busy to stop by, but decided it’d be best to not stick his nose into the poor stranger’s business. It was a somewhat popular order after all. He really needed to get over this Renjun obsession. 

“May I have a name for the order?” 

“Chenle.” 

Jaemin scribbled a name on the side of the cup in black marker. _C-H-E-N-L-E_ _._

“Your order will be ready to pick up at the next counter.”

"Thank you~" 

Jaemin got to work on making the drinks and finished in no time. After capping the drinks, he placed them on the pick-up counter. 

“Iced soy vanilla latte and choco frappe for Chenle?” 

Chenle, who was sitting at a nearby table, came to retrieve his drinks and carefully eyed the chicken scratch on his cups. “So I guess you do know how to spell,” the boy remarked with an amused smile. 

“Excuse me?” Jaemin was confused by the sudden comment. Had he spelled that many names incorrectly? Have customers been gossiping about his illiteracy? 

Chenle laughed, his eyes turning into crescents. “Renjun told me about this place and about you,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if he expected Jaemin to know this information. “I just wanted to come see for myself. Jaemin, right? I had to check your name tag just to make sure! How did he describe you again? Cute but stupid barista who can’t spell...?” Chenle spoke with much enthusiasm and didn’t seem to realize that he’d said the last part out loud, mumbling it to himself. 

“What? He told you that about _me_?” Jaemin questioned in utter disbelief.

Chenle began to walk towards the exit, a bright expression still on his face, “Oh, don’t worry about it! It was nice meeting you, Jaemin!” 

With a wave, the blonde boy was gone, leaving behind a confused barista.

✧

The next day was a rainy one with significantly less customers than usual. Donghyuck had called in sick that morning with a cough that sounded a bit too exaggerated to be real, but their manager didn't question it and neither did Jaemin. Their new coworker Jeno was supposed to come in for training, but he'd coincidentally called in sick as well, probably still recovering from being yelled at by their manager yesterday for spilling a whole bag of coffee beans. This left Jaemin all alone.

Without Donghyuck’s melodious chatter and only the soft pattering of rain on the windows, the little coffee shop felt rather gloomy. The lack of customers didn’t help much either. 

Jaemind had expected Renjun to arrive about two hours ago, but with no sign of the boy he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment. What Chenle had told him the day before still lingered in his mind and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. He still hadn't worked out his plan for what he would do if Chenle _was_ telling the truth, but he'd get around to it when it happened.

Jaemin spaced out as he watched the pouring rain, not noticing that a customer had come in. He was snapped out of his daze by an all too familiar voice. 

“Hello? Can I order or should I just leave?” 

Renjun’s voice dripped with annoyance as he stood at the counter impatiently, arms crossed and waiting for an answer. 

Jaemin tried to come off as nonchalant as possible and rested his elbow on the cash register casually, “Oh, hi. The usual iced soy vanilla latte for you?” 

“Sure,” the corners of Renjun’s mouth lifting in a half smile. He seemed amused by Jaemin’s obvious (and unsuccessful) attempt at acting chill. 

Jaemin received Renjun’s payment and took a cup. As he reached for the marker, he heard Renjun clear his throat. Jaemin's gaze shifted to him. 

“It’s Renjun. R-E-N-J-U-N. Shouldn’t be too hard.” 

Jaemin cracked a wide smile and wrote neatly on the side of the cup: _R-E-N-J-U-N._ He turned to make the drink, trying his best to hide his embarrassingly delighted expression. He’d noticed that Renjun’s usual earbuds were missing in action and that he hadn’t gone to take a seat at his usual spot. It isn’t until he spoke up that Jaemin realized he seemed a bit nervous. 

“Do you happen to remember a customer yesterday named Chenle?” 

“Yeah, he mentioned you, actually. A friend?” Jaemin didn’t look up from making the drink, hoping that Renjun wouldn't notice his shaky hands. 

“I guess I’d consider him a friend. More like family, though,” Renjun replied. He paused for a second. “...What did he mention about me?” 

Jaemin placed a cap on the drink and turned around to hand it over the counter to Renjun, this time meeting his gaze. 

“That you think I’m stupid and illiterate,” Jaemin said with a chuckle. “But cute too.” 

Renjun’s cheeks flushed pink and he broke eye contact, clearly overwhelmed with embarrassment. He took a deep breath and a sip from his iced soy latte to calm down. 

“Zhong Chenle,” he muttered under his breath frustratedly. “I knew I shouldn't have trusted him…Oh, he’ll be sorry…” 

As nervous as Jaemin was, he was enjoying himself too much seeing Renjun lose his cool demeanor. 

“It’s alright!” 

Renjun looked up at Jaemin with a puzzled expression. 

“You’re not too bad yourself, Renjun,” said Jaemin with a cheeky smile. “You _are_ right about me being cute though.” 

“Then I must be right about the stupid part too,” Renjun scoffed lightheartedly. 

“Hey! The misspelling was on purpose,” Jaemin said in defense. “And you deserved it for being a shitty customer.” 

“Touché. I was really convinced you hated me or something."

“Don't get me wrong, I definitely did,” Jaemin replied. “It’s a real nuisance when _certain_ customers act like they can't be bothered to say please or even look you in the eye!” 

"God, I'm such an idiot," Renjun looked down at his feet in embarrassment and let out a sheepish laugh. “I was trying to seem nonchalant and chill because...I wasn't sure how to approach you. I mean, it kinda worked because you did end up noticing me, but I guess not in the best way.”

Renjun was still blushing furiously and looked as if he couldn't believe he'd just said what he did out loud. He cleared his throat nervously, "But, uh, promise it won't happen again, sir."

“It better not,” Jaemin’s eyes met Renjun’s with a mischievous glint. “Or I might have to slip some cow milk into your precious soy latte.”

Renjun laughed loudly in disbelief. “Yeah right!” 

Once their laughter died down, an awkward silence fell between the two. Jaemin could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest, either from the quintuple shot iced Americano he’d drank earlier or the cute boy standing in front of him. 

“Well…My shift ends at 7,” Jaemin brought up casually, hands fidgeting with his marker. “In case you were wondering.” 

Renjun’s perked up in surprise, but his expression shifted to a pleasant one. “Do you wanna….grab something to eat? I mean, I have some business to take care of with Chenle, but I’ll be back.” 

“Sounds good to me. See you then.” 

Renjun flashed a warm smile at Jaemin before turning to leave. 

“Wait,” Jaemin raised his voice, catching Renjun’s attention. He held a hand out towards Renjun. “I’m Na Jaemin. Nice to formally meet you.” 

“Huang Renjun. Nice to meet you too,” Renjun grasped Jaemin’s hand gently and shook it. The feeling was warm and comforting to Jaemin. Renjun gave him one last smile as he made his way out of the coffee shop with a soy latte in hand.

“Go easy on Chenle!” Jaemin called out from behind the counter. “He’s just a kid!” 

Renjun waved a hand dismissively before the door shut behind him. Jaemin shook his head, feeling far more excited than he’d like to admit. He grabbed a dishtowel, ready to get back to work in hopes of his shift going by quickly, when suddenly a shrill voice cut the silence of the empty coffee shop. 

“What was _that?!_ ” 

Jaemin jumped up in shock and turned to see none other than Donghyuck emerge from the back storage room. 

"What the fuck are _you_ doing here?!" Jaemin cried, throwing the dishtowel in his hand at Donghyuck's head and narrowly missing. 

Donghyuck sighed dramatically, feigning disappointment. “You have a lot of explaining to do, young man.” 

And boy, did he have a whole lot to tell. 

**Author's Note:**

> after not posting for over a year i felt the urge to jump back into the writing scene with an nct fic :^)
> 
> feel free to leave any comments/kudos as they're greatly appreciated!  
> thank you for reading~ [twitter](https://twitter.com/renamoroll) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/renchacco)


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